State expands role of UMass vaccination site Stickers on hand at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst where first responders were receiving their first COVID-19 vaccinations on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING By SCOTT MERZBACH AMHERST — As Fenway Park in Boston joins Gillette Stadium in Foxborough as a mass vaccination site, the University of Massachusetts has expanded its role in administering COVID-19 vaccines in western Massachusetts. The Baker-Polito administration announced Jan. 19 that the UMass site at the Campus Center will be providing vaccinations for all eligible groups in Phase 1 of the state’s vaccine distribution plan. The site has been for first responders only since opening Jan. 11. Now, congregate care and shelter staff, as well as clinical and non-clinical health care workers doing direct and COVID-facing care, along with personnel from long-term care facilities, rest homes and assisted living facilities, can be served there.